Cruise controls which reduce the set speed using a ranging sensor when a slower vehicle has been detected driving in front of the particular vehicle are believed to be known. These types of systems have been distributed under the name “adaptive cruise control” (ACC). A system of this type is described in the article “Adaptive Cruise Control System Aspects and Development Trends” by Winner et al. (SAE paper 96 1010, International Congress and Exposition, Detroit, Feb. 26–29, 1996). Systems of this type have been planned as comfort systems, due to which the maximum deceleration performance of these systems is insufficient to delay imminent collisions with vehicles driving in front.
German Published Patent Application No. 197 50 913 describes an automatic brake control system for motor vehicles which is capable of detecting obstacles and braking the particular vehicle to a standstill in the event of an imminent collision. This is done using an obstacle detection device for detecting an obstacle in front of the vehicle, a stop decision device for deciding whether the vehicle has essentially been stopped, a braking force determination device for determining a braking force to keep the vehicle stopped, a braking force control device, a travel resumption decision device, and a release device for releasing the braking force. In this system, a vehicle may be automatically braked to a standstill. However, aborting the deceleration during the braking intervention is mentioned neither in this publication nor in any other known publication.